Should the Western Guilford football stadium be known as the ‘Joe Robinson Stadium’ or the ‘Doug Henderson Stadium’??

Should the Western Guilford football stadium be known as the ‘Joe Robinson Stadium’ or the ‘Doug Henderson Stadium’??

Who should it be now??? ‘Doug Henderson Football Stadium’ or the ‘Joe Robinson Football Stadium’, at Western Guilford High School…..

Joe Robinson was a very good coach for the Western Guilford Hornets, along with being a super teacher and a strong influence on the Western Guilford student population…..But, and I mean you’ve got to take a longer look at this situation, nobody else has ever come close to winning a State Football Title and Doug Henderson did that and more, during his time as the WG Hornets’ leader/coach….The 1977 NCHSAA 3-A Title is the trump card…..Henderson finished with close to, or over 200 wins in his coaching career, which spanned over 30 years, between East Bladen High School and Western Guilford and he sent numbers of kids on to college, to play football at the next level…Don Tatum at Elon, Mark Guenther at Wake Forest, Linnett Price at Western Carolina, Glenn Morris at East Carolina, Aaron Stewart at Duke, Scott McCallister at North Carolina, Chris Causey at North Carolina and that’s just a few of the big names, at the big schools….Henderson put that Western Guilford program on the map and kept it there during his entire tenure, as the head coach of the Black Hornets, as they used to be known…..

No disrespect to Mr. Robinson, he was a fine person and left a large impression on the Guilford College high school community, but let’s hold off here for a while and give this some time, so the clearer heads can prevail….That Western Guilford Football Stadium needs to be named ‘Doug Henderson Stadium’ and you need to leave the mark, with the man that left his mark, true excellence personified by the State Football Title in 1977 and countless other days of hard work and effort, with his beige Volkswagon rolling into the back lot, out behind the Western Guilford cafeteria, at the start of the new day…..You’ve got to go with the man that won the high school equivalent to college football’s Heisman Trophy, Doug Henderson is your man for the stadium naming rights and that is proven and makes sense based on what I have told you here….

Take a survey from those that served under Henderson and they will tell you that they thought they were in the Army, but that type of training is a great thing in the end, because you are poised to handle all types of conditions at any time, during any situation ….Henderson had you ready and it is time to get ready and stand behind the man and have that Western Guilford Football Stadium named in his honor…..

‘Doug Henderson Football Stadium’
(Enough said, let the name and numbers stand for themself.)

FROM the Guilford County Schools:
The Guilford County School board has opted to seek public comment on the name Coach Joe Robinson Stadium for the football stadium at Western High. Robinson started his Western High career when the school opened in 1968. He taught civics, history and driver’s education and served as the head football coach. The board approved a public comment period of 14 days to allow for a decision on the name prior to a planned recognition for Robinson at the Oct. 4 football game. Comments will be accepted until Sept. 24 by emailing gcscomments@gcs nc.com

Well said from Bill Ahrens:Western Guilford Class of 1977:

As great a man and coach that Joe Robinson was, I don’t think the football stadium should be named after him. Coach Henderson won a multitude of conference titles and also won the 1977 State 3A Championship! I saw on the Guilford County School website that someone has turned in Joe Robinson’s name. Please click on the link below before 9/25 and
comment that Coach Henderson deserves this. I think naming it after Joe Robinson will hurt Coach Henderson very much.

6 thoughts on “Should the Western Guilford football stadium be known as the ‘Joe Robinson Stadium’ or the ‘Doug Henderson Stadium’??

  1. I am a 1973 graduate of WGHS and I played football for both coaches. I was fortunate enough to win the Golden Helmet award and Best Offensive Back trophy my senior year under Doug Henderson. I liked both coaches and have no issues with the stadium being named after either. From my perspective, however, my choice would be Doug Henderson for two reasons:

    1. Doug Henderson was a far superior coach who was not only a great teacher of the game, but he could bring out the most potential of his players. I think his record demonstrates that in a much better way than my words can.

    2. Doug Henderson was a more positive role model whose coaching extended beyond the field into all aspects of his players’ and students’ lives. While Joe Robinson was generally likable enough, there were times when he was very negative towards his players throwing clipboards and using profanity.

    Bottom line, Doug Henderson was the complete coaching package and most deserves to have the stadium named after him.

    Sincerely,

    David Ahrens

  2. I played for Coach Henderson in the mid 80’s and had Coach Robinson as a teacher also. Both are deserving of recognition for their accomplishments. I strongly agree that the stadium be named for Coach Henderson. If I’m not mistaken the current stadium was built in 1972 or 73 while Coach Henderson was just getting started at Western. I think Coach Robinson should be recognized for being a great teacher but Coach Henderson put WG on the map as a football power. As a former Black Hat I also urge Coach Causey to remove those numbers from those Black Hats! That is taboo!

  3. I taught and coached at Western Guilford from 1978 through 1988. I knew Joe Robinson well… he was a great teacher, mentor, and friend. That being said, I am appalled that anyone would suggest that the football stadium at Western Guilford be named for anyone other than Doug Henderson! In fact, if Joe were alive today, I truly believe that he would be the first in line to say the same thing!

    Doug was instrumental in making Western Guilford a football power during the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s. He was instrumental in the building of the stadium at Western Guilford (that’s right… the community under Doug’s leadership built that stadium, not the county!). During his time at Western Guilford, Henderson saw his teams compile an overall record of 107-47-3 and His 1977 Western Guilford team won the NCHSAA state 3-A championship. In addition, he had two different streaks of 40-plus consecutive dual meet victories as a track and field coach on the paved track he was instrumental in building at a time when most schools were still running on cinder tracks. Henderson is a former president of the North Carolina Coaches Association and helped to start the North Carolina Football Coaches Association, serving as its executive secretary from 1988 through 2003. He also served as a head coach in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, the NCCA East-West all-star game and the old North-South all-star game. All of this resulted in Coach Henderson being named to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
    As impressive as this all sounds, Doug Henderson would tell you that his greatest accomplishment was having a role instilling a sense of responsibility and pride in the multitude of young men who played for him. There was a reason why we always had over a 100 young men come out to play football at Western which, at that time, was a relatively small 3-A school… they knew that they would all be treated the same, regardless of ability; and that, if they stuck it out, Doug would find a place for them to play. It might be on a specialty team or in a certain situation, but they would play… they would contribute… they would be a part of something special. For many of these young men, it was the first time they were given responsibility and the first time they were held accountable. For the majority of them, these were lessons that would carry into their adult years.

    So I hope Guilford County doesn’t make a huge mistake by discounting all of the accomplishments Doug Henderson has made on and off the football field at Western Guilford by naming the stadium for anyone other than him… I have no doubt that Joe Robinson would completely agree with me!

    Sincerely,

    Art Schoolfield

  4. I am a retired FOOTBALL OFFICIAL of over 40 years and officiated many of Western Guilford games in my career. In doing so I had direct contact with Doug both on and off the field. At no time were we ever treated with more respect than during our relationship with a Western Guilford Football Game. Doug Henderson was directly responsible as this is what Doug stands for and leads by example and expects whomever works or plays for him to do likewise. He was a FATHER figure to those who were fortunate to play under his leadership. i was also in the sporting goods business for a while and witnessed former graduates dropping by the school to see Doug before they would even go to their own homes.
    I remember a play during the Morehead game in Eden which would decide the CONFERENCE CHAMPION. Score was 7-0 in favor of Morehead. The play was an offsides call which I called on Western as the lineman stepped back across the free kick line to go across the field to set up a wall for the runner to follow down the opposite sideline. The play worked as the runner almost scored, The play was called back and THERE WAS COMPLETE SILENCE ON THE WESTERN GUILFORD SIDELINE. His teams were taught to overcome adversity and go to the next play, Western finally acored to tie 7-7 in regulation. The game would take 3 overtimes for Western to win 24-21. I believe this may be the State Championship year if not they went deep into the playoffs. Doug Henderson is in a league with only a few others that come to mind during this era. The ones that come to mind have STADIUMS named in their honor because they were legends at their respective schools. Claude Manzi, Smith High School, Bill Slayton, Southeast Guilford, C.K. Siler, Southern Guilford. Their accomplishments have been recognized by their respective communities for some time and I know there are others.
    To Name the Western Guilford Football & Track Facility in HONOR and RECOGNITION of the contributions and sacrifices DOUG HENDERSON made during his career of teaching and preparing young people to become productive citizens in their adult life IS LONG OVERDUE.

    Respectfully Submitted, Charlie Hadley

Comments are closed.